


Going Around

by TinCanTelephone



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Caretaking, Denial, Domestic Fluff, Echo Base, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Grumpiness, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Snark, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-22 19:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13173321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinCanTelephone/pseuds/TinCanTelephone
Summary: He knew how these things tended to spread around military bases, where lots of sentients were packed together in close quarters with large, communal 'freshers. But Cassian, as a rule, didn't catch things.Or, reasons Cassian should believe in Karma.You know where this is going.





	1. Version 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo a few weeks ago I got the stomach flu during finals week not two days after declaring loudly at the bar that I don't catch things. Yeah. It was an experience. 
> 
>  
> 
> Trigger warning for vomiting, I guess. But not very descriptive.

"So you're not afraid?" Bodhi tapped his foot under the table of the conference room he and Cassian had commandeered for their mission prep.

Cassian grunted. "Afraid of what?"

" _That thing_ going around," Bodhi said. "I heard it's bad. And _super_ contagious. They've got the med-droids working on a vaccine but half the pilots've already spent at least one night this week puking their guts out."

Cassian opened another file. "That's because the barracks are a petri dish. We'll be fine." He scanned the background on the Corellian city they were supposed to infiltrate. "Do you know anything about this rebel cell calling themselves 'Windu's Army?'"

"Never heard 'em." Bodhi shook his head. "Cassian, this virus or whatever is hitting _every_ human. I mean, _Luke_ had it. You'd think the Force would tell him where all the germs were."

Cassian looked up. "Bodhi. We'll be fine. We're shipping out in a few days."

"That doesn't make us safe."

"Noted." Cassian checked the chrono. "I have a meeting. See you at dinner?"

"Oh. Yeah, definitely."

"Great." Cassian stood up and stretched some of the knots out of his back. "See you then."

He left rather relieved to be done with Bodhi's paranoia. He supposed there was some logic to it– he knew how these things tended to spread around military bases, where lots of sentients were packed together in close quarters with large, communal 'freshers. And he was a little worried about Bodhi, who had three roommates and spent much more time socializing and training in groups, but _Cassian_ , as a rule, didn't catch things. He'd had private quarters ever since he made captain, and before that was gone so often on missions he didn't have time to pick up whatever disease was plaguing most of the rebellion soldiers.

 _But Luke had it_.

Cassian frowned, then shook it off. Luke was still a pilot, and spent a lot of time with other pilots. He shouldn't worry.

 

His barely-suppressed sense of foreboding did not improve at the meeting, which was mostly upper-level intelligence officers. Draven spent the first half looking rather pale, then abruptly excused himself three quarters of the way through. He returned after around ten minutes looking positively green, at which point Mon Mothma asked gently if he would like to be dismissed. To Cassian's surprise, Draven accepted looking almost relieved and he wondered if he should have taken Bodhi more seriously.

Dinner that night was a similarly dismal affair. Chirrut and Baze were on a supply run, Kay was at the droid bay (reluctantly) receiving a security upgrade, and Jyn was away on a mission with Kes. She wasn't supposed to be back until the day before they left, which was just another reason for Cassian to be bummed out.

For his part, Bodhi was unusually quiet and only picking at his food.

Cassian's heart sank. "Feeling okay?" _Please say yes. Please say you're fine_. _Just tired_.

Bodhi shrugged. "I don't feel good." He glanced up. "I told you. It's going around."

Cassian took a deep breath. "You just got yourself all worked up about it. You're probably just anxious."

"I don't know…"

"Get some rest tonight." Cassian took Bodhi's plate away and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow morning to inventory the ship."

 

* * *

 

When Bodhi failed to show up to inventory the ship, Cassian found him slumped on the floor of the 'fresher he shared with his roommates.

"Told you," he muttered into the floor.

 _Joder_. "So you did." Cassian shifted awkwardly in the doorway.

"You'd better get out of here," Bodhi said. "Trust me, it kills."

"You said it's only supposed to last 24 hours," Cassian said.

"Maybe." Bodhi paused to groan and expel a few dry coughs into the toilet. "But I threw up like four times last night. I still feel like I want to die."

"Sorry." Cassian looked around. He really wasn't good at this sort of thing. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Maybe a blaster bolt. To put me out of my misery."

"Very funny." Cassian began to slowly back out of Bodhi's room. "Feel better." He retreated into the hallway and nearly ran into Kay.

"There is a 76.4% chance you will contract this illness," it said. "And a 63% chance it will interfere with your next mission."

Cassian glared. "I think I've beaten worse odds."

"I would advise washing your hands as soon as possible."

Cassian did, then finished their pre-mission inventory alone. He didn't see Bodhi for the rest of the day. Kay was incessantly negative about it, but Cassian stubbornly continued like nothing was wrong.

Like he said, they'd beaten worse odds.

 

Bodhi returned to their prep room late the following morning looking refreshed.

"I think I slept for like, 12 hours last night."

"That sounds great," Cassian muttered. He was in a horrible mood. Jyn's mission was delayed, and he'd just learned she wouldn't be back until a few hours before they left. If everything went well.

"Still feeling okay?" Bodhi said.

Cassian scowled. "For the last time, I don't catch these things."

"Kriff, don't say that! It's bad karma."

Cassian rolled his eyes. Karma was like the Force. A mysterious entity that many sentients seemed to believe in, but that sounded at its core utterly unscientific to him. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Fine, Mr. Perfect Immune System. But don't expect any sympathy from me when you start tossing your rations like the rest of us."

Cassian glared. "Can we just focus on getting ready for tomorrow? I want to be able to spend some time with Jyn before we leave."

Bodhi smirked. "Oh-ho, _spend some time with Jyn_." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Shut up."

"I get it, man, I get it." Bodhi patted his shoulder and started towards the hangar.

Kay watched him go. "I do not."

Cassian clenched his hands and braced himself for what promised to be an extremely long day.

By the time he collapsed into bed that night, Cassian wasn't sure he'd be able to survive five days in close quarters with Bodhi. He was in rare form, exercising his newly regained energy by cracking jokes at every opportunity and bouncing around the ship on his tether. He kept spinning tools around carelessly in his hands and nearly gave Cassian a heart attack every time he stuck a screwdriver into an electrical panel.

Cassian developed a headache after lunch, which made him even more irritable and seemed to make Bodhi even more hyper. He meant to get more pre-mission reading done that night, but after forcing down a thoroughly unappetizing dinner, he fell asleep almost as soon as he got into bed.

 

* * *

 

Cassian woke with a jolt to his alarm, then immediately curled back in on himself.

Force, he really didn't want to wake up.

His eyes snapped open. _Nope._ No. He wasn't sick, he just didn't sleep well. It happened. But Jyn was coming back today, and then they were shipping out. He had to get up and eat breakfast.

 _Breakfast_. He cringed. Despite the morning and his light dinner last night, he still felt basically full.

 _Shit. No._ He _wasn't_ sick. He _wasn't._

He groaned, stood up, and took a deep breath. He got dressed and tried to take better stock of himself. He felt a bit shaky, and the world spun a _little_ if he turned his head too fast, but he could function. He was just sleep deprived. He was fine.

He made it to the mess just a tad later than usual and tried to act like everything was normal. Because it was. He swallowed and looked away when the droids spooned him a serving of watery oatmeal, but took another deep breath and pushed the feeling away.

He had to reconsider the food when he sat down across from Bodhi. He had to eat it, he realized. Or Bodhi definitely think something was up. So he did– carefully– taking each spoonful at a time and trying not to taste or smell anything. Bodhi was talking, chattering obliviously about… something. It was hard to pay attention.

By the time he finished, it was getting really hard to be in the mess, around the sight and smell of so much food and the sound of so many sentients eating.

"Let's go." He interrupted Bodhi and stood abruptly.

"Okay." Bodhi stood as well and they cleared their trays. Cassian was careful not to look at the greasy, sticky dishes beneath theirs on the conveyor belt to the sonics.

They made it to the hangar and were halfway through the pre-flight checklist before Bodhi noticed anything.

"You're kind of quiet. Everything okay?"

"Yes." Cassian took another deep breath. "Let's keep going."

"Are you sure? You look… pale."

"I'm fine." Cassian took two steps past Bodhi, then lurched forward and collapsed on his knees in front of a conveniently empty bucket, where he was violently sick.

He heard a bark of laughter from Han Solo, passing by with his wookiee on the way to the Falcon. "Morning sickness, Andor?"

" _Que te den_ ," Cassian muttered, although he wasn't sure anyone heard.

Kay looked offended. "I can assure you that is impossible. Cassian does not have the biological capacity to–"

"Thanks, Kay." Bodhi cut it off and knelt by Cassian. "Are you okay? I mean, besides– crap. I mean, do you need– what can I–"

"I'm fine." Cassian took a shaky breath and pushed a hand through his hair. He suddenly felt very warm in the chill of the Hangar and wondered if he should take his coat off. "I actually feel… better now. Maybe it was something I ate." He did feel a little less nauseous. Maybe this was all it took for his stomach to work itself out.

Bodhi gave him an odd look. "We had the same thing for breakfast this morning. And for dinner last night. Cassian, I think you got _that Thing_."

"No, I'm fine. I think it's just food poisoning." Cassian stood, then swayed as the world tilted around him.

Bodhi gripped his bicep. "I think you should lie down. Maybe you feel better now, but I guarantee it'll hit you again in a few hours."

Cassian tried to protest, but the shakiness he'd tried to ignore seemed to come back ten times stronger and lying down actually sounded like a really good idea. He couldn't do much to prevent Bodhi from leading him back to his cabin. Before he caught up to what was going on, he was lying supine on his bed, stripped of his jacket, boots, and holster.

Bodhi pulled the blankets loosely over him and stepped towards the door. "I'm going to comm Draven about the mission. I'll be right back, don't worry."

"Not worried," Cassian murmured. "Not sick." Never mind the fact that his stomach felt like it was sloshing around loose inside of him and it was taking a deliberate effort to keep his whole body from shaking.

"Sure you're not," Bodhi said.

 

Cassian was far too nauseous to sleep, so he was still awake when Bodhi returned.

He made an effort to sit up, but Bodhi pressed him back down. "Nope, just rest. You're relieved of all duties for the next 48 standard hours. Melshi's going to Corellia instead."

Cassian groaned.

Bodhi put something on his nightstand. "I stopped by at the medbay. They said you just have to wait it out, but here are some fever-reducers if you ever feel up to taking them."

Cassian swallowed and closed his eyes. The idea of eating or drinking anything, even water and pills, was inconceivable. Besides, "Don't have a fever," he muttered. "Not sick." He refused to believe this was happening. This never happened. _Ever_.

Bodhi palmed Cassian's forehead. "Reality begs to differ. I have to go, but Jyn gets back in a few hours. This probably isn't quite how you wanted to greet her, but at least you'll have someone to take care of you."

 _Jyn_. Cassian wanted to scream in frustration. He was off the mission, so he'd get to be with Jyn for more than a few hours, but he hadn't seen her in close to _two weeks_ and now she was finally coming home and he could barely stand.

Off in the distance, he heard Bodhi say, "I'm sorry Cassian. I know this sucks."

Then he blinked and he was alone.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but it was too hard not to focus on how queasy he felt and, now that Bodhi pointed it out, how feverish he was as well. He was shaking and he could feel goosebumps under his shirt but also felt so incredibly hot he wondered how he wasn't sweating through his sheets.

His mind felt restless and untethered, jumping from place to place with no direction or sense of focus. At first it was _Jyn, Jyn, Jyn,_ but then he began to see the reports he'd been reading for the mission he would never go on– _Windu's Army. Wind Army. Army, wind. Wind. Army. Arm-y. Wind Arm. Windu's Army. Army, wind. Windu's Army on Corellia. Corellia, Corellia, Corellia._ He wanted to stop, thinking like this was confusing and exhausting, but he couldn't. He could almost see the words swirling above his head when he closed his eyes, knocking into each other and bumping around. It almost made him dizzy. Dizzier.

 

At some point, like Bodhi predicted, he had to get up and stagger over to his 'fresher to throw up again. _Hostia puta_ , how was there still so much _left?_ His stomach muscles were cramping and his nose was running. When it was over he leaned back and panted, wondered if he had the energy to brush his teeth. It probably wouldn't do much for the taste at the back of his throat but maybe it would help the film forming on his tongue…

He decided against it and wobbled back to his bed. His datapad pinged with a message. He leaned over on one elbow to check it, but the bright lights and scrolling text upset his stomach so he gave up on reading it. After a minute, his comm began to ring.

Cassian couldn't decide whether to answer it. If someone wanted something from him, he probably wouldn't be very helpful. But if they wanted to tell him something, there was a chance he could listen. If they were quick about it.

He reached out and tried to accept it, but he was too late and it had already started to record. He heard Jyn's voice, leaving a message. He thought about interrupting her, but in the end just relaxed and let her voice wash over him. If he concentrated, he could almost feel her hand on his hair.

"Hey, Cassian, I just got back. I heard you're still on base but I can't kriffing find you anywhere. I assume you're in some super-important top-secret meeting so I guess I'll see you tonight. Oh, and don't worry– I'm fine, all in one piece, just tired and in need of a karking shower. If you're around, maybe you can join me in there and we can– whoops, excuse me, General Dodonna–"

She broke off and Cassian almost smiled at the thought of her blushing as she rushed past the commander.

She cleared her throat. "–Anyway. Damn, I just checked the mess. Where _are_ you? Have you heard about this thing going around? Apparently it's just horrible. The med droids just came out with an inoculation, Kes and I were practically _accosted_ when we landed–"

There was a noise on her end and shuffling in the hallway. The door slid open and suddenly Jyn's real voice covered her tinny one.

"I'm stopping by the room now, just to get…" She trailed off. "Stars, _Cassian?"_

He wanted to say something and reach out to her, but could only muster a sigh and a weak movement of his arm.

She dropped her bag and rushed over. "Gods… Cassian, did you get it? I didn't even consider… you _never_ get these things…"

 _I know_ , he wanted to say.

She sat next to him and he pushed himself up so he could lean on her shoulder. He pressed his forehead into her neck and sighed. She felt so _steady_ beneath him, solid and warm.

She rubbed his shoulders, arms, his head. "It'll be okay, Cassian," she whispered. "You're okay."

 

Cassian spent the next few hours drifting in and out, never quite sleeping but never really awake. He was vaguely aware of Jyn, sitting next to him on the bed or at the desk, reading or typing on her datapad. She followed him to the 'fresher when he felt sick again.

She tugged at his arm when he finished. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."

"No." He didn't move from his position, curled up on the floor. "I'll just have to get up again and come back."

"But not immediately. Come on."

He grunted and tugged his arm away. Moving right now felt like a huge amount of effort that he couldn't imagine was worth it. He should just stay here. It was about as restful as his bed, maybe even better because it wasn't so _hot_ …

Jyn poked him and he flinched. "Cassian. Get up."

He tried to shake his head. "'M fine."

"Cassian…" She sighed, drummed her fingers on the floor. "If you stay here, I'm going to sit here with you, and if I sit like this all afternoon my hip's going to be really sore tomorrow."

He opened his eyes, squinting in the bright light. She was playing dirty. He couldn't stop her from sitting with him, but he couldn't allow her to do something that would hurt her. He took a deep breath and sat up. Jyn stood, and to her credit didn't smirk as she helped him to his feet.

She followed him to the bed and pulled the sheets back so he could lie down. "One blanket or two?"

"One."

She tossed it over him and folded the other one at his feet. "Drink some water." She held out a canteen.

He turned away. "No."

She huffed. "It'll make you feel better."

That was a lie. It most certainly would not. "No." What was the point of drinking more water that was just going to come back up?

Jyn shook the canteen in his face. "Yes."

"No."

"Cassian, you're going to get dehydrated. Come on, just a few sips."

He gave in, even though he still didn't believe her when she said it would make him feel better. His instinct was still to say 'No' again and roll away, but he was already acting like a stubborn child and if he pushed it too far, Jyn would point it out.

And he certainly couldn't have that, even if it was maybe a little bit true.

 

She shook the water at him again when he stumbled back to bed after being sick for a fourth time.

 _Just like Bodhi_ , he thought. He shook his head at the canteen and tried to push it away, but Jyn was persistent and he gave in, like he usually did with her. Sometimes he wondered if that was dangerous, how easily he gave in for Jyn, but… how could he not? He loved her.

Jyn said something else, which made him think he might've said that last thing out loud, but it was hard to tell.

When he closed his eyes and as his mind relaxed he could see her, standing in front of a low house on Lah'mu. The wind was blowing her hair around her face and she was beautiful. She was smiling at him, and he could see two children in the house behind her. One was fair and the other was dark, but importantly, they both had her eyes, green as the mountains above them.

His lips moved to tell her about it, but he didn't know what came out.

Jyn responded from somewhere far away, but she was saying something about fever reducers and more water.

He listened, sort of, and did what she asked without opening his eyes.

She said something else, and he thought maybe she was trying to ask him something, but but returned to the dream as soon as he could without answering her. She laid down next to him and he wrapped his arm around her. He wished he could take her with him, so Real Jyn would merge with Dream Jyn and he could show her what he meant.

 

* * *

 

When he woke up, Jyn was gone the dream felt hazy and distant. But his mind was finally clear and he felt strong enough to take a longer-than-usual hot shower. He dressed slowly, sore and a little weak, and found a message from Jyn on his datapad. She was making up the mission debrief she'd missed taking care of him and then was supposed to train recruits.

 _Stay in and take it easy,_ she wrote. _I'll bring you food later if you feel up to it._

He rolled his eyes. He was fine. He scrolled to the next message.

_And don't even think about leaving._

He frowned. What was she going to do about it?

_Unless you enter the right code when you leave, I've sliced your door to send a holo of you from last night to Luke, Bodhi, Baze, and Chirrut._

Like that was supposed to scare him.

_And Leia and Han._

Fuck. He thought about breaking out, just to spite her. See if he could guess her code. Although knowing her, any attempt to guess or slice his way through would result in the holo being sent anyway, so maybe it was best to just stay in like she wanted.

It felt… more passive than he was used to, but it did feel kind of nice to just work from his room. It meant he could take breaks whenever he felt tired (which was often), but it also meant an escape for once from the never-ending demands and responsibilities he hated to admit were starting to weigh on him.

If he was being completely honest with himself, he was glad Jyn was forcing him to stay put. He didn't plan on admitting that to _her_ , but she knew anyway. He could tell by the look on her face when she came back with dry crackers and water from the mess.

She smirked. "I expected more of a fight, Andor."

He sat up and put his datapad aside. "I don't know what you recorded." He began nibbling at the crackers.

She shrugged and sat next to him. "It was kind of cute, actually. You told me you loved me and talked about how you imagined our kids would look."

He almost choked. _Puta madre_ , he didn't think he'd said all _that_ out loud. He was suddenly extremely grateful he hadn't made an escape attempt.

Jyn laughed and leaned into him. "Don't worry, Cass. It would've been harmless. Everyone knows you're a softie under that spy face, anyway."

He grunted. "Let's just pretend it's our secret, okay?"

She smiled and sighed that contented, happy sigh that always made him feel warm inside. "Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote two versions of this, so a SW-Universe Domestic AU is coming soon!
> 
> No thematic playlist. Inspiration (unfortunately) brought to you by: Real Life. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for comments/kudos!! They make my day! :)


	2. Version 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or, the version with no plot. This is just fluff, guys.

Cassian liked to think his immune system was rock solid. It was a point of pride for him, through all his years on a military base, he almost never caught one of those "things going around" and only became seriously ill once or twice that he could remember since he turned fifteen.

Of course, none of this mattered at what had to be something like 0300 standard time (it was hard to see the chrono from here) when he was puking his guts out over the toilet. He'd felt maybe a _teensy_ bit off when he went to bed last night, much earlier than usual, but thought nothing of it, only to wake up forty or so minutes ago to stumble down the hall with a hand clapped over his mouth.

He hadn't left the 'fresher since, deciding it wasn't worth it. The nausea was so bad his stomach clenched at the thought of putting anything in it, but he soon discovered that throwing up water was far preferable to throwing up nothing, so he made himself comfortable (or something, _comfortable_ was a strong word) against the cabinet under the sink and fell into a rhythm taking tiny sips of water in between rounds of gagging.

The irony was not lost on him that he hadn't lived on a kriffing military base in close to four years. Like many other high-ranking rebellion officers, he and Jyn had their own cozy apartment on Coruscant close to the recently-deposed senate, which in Cassian's mind should really limit the amount of germs he was exposed to.

 _Yeah, right_. He groaned as his stomach heaved _again_ and he leaned forward to cough up what was mostly stomach acid at this point. _Sound logic, Andor. Really helpful_. He felt another wave of sympathy for Jyn, who had thrown up nearly every day for the first three months she was pregnant with Lyra.

At least Jyn and Lyra weren't around right now, he thought as he pressed his throbbing forehead onto cold, white porcelain of the bathtub. Although the needy part of him desperately wanted Jyn to be here, rubbing his back or helping him up or refilling his water glass, he also knew this sort of thing was usually highly contagious and he really didn't want Lyra within ten feet of him.

This was kriffing bad timing though, since Jyn was supposed to return with Lyra on a red-eye from Chandrila in the morning. His rather optimistic goal was to clean himself up a bit and drag himself back to bed by that time. He doubted he'd be able to pull of 'healthy,' but he was hoping for more than 'half dead,' which is about where he felt right now.

For the moment, he contented himself with pillowing his head in his arms agains the edge of the tub and trying to rest his eyes. His back would complain tomorrow, but that seemed like a distant, far-off worry as he drifted off.

 

He jerked awake, disoriented and sore, unsure of how much time had passed. His head was absolutely _pounding_ and he was somehow still nauseous, but if he closed his eyes and took deep breaths he thought he could begin to bring it under control. As he did this, he tried to figure out what had woken him up.

It was a noise, some sort of noise in the living room… who would be there at this hour? Who had access to his apartment? Bodhi? Last he checked flying transports in the mid-rim with Kay. Baze? Chirrut? On Jedha sorting out the refugee relief effort. The Solos? No, on Chandrila. Jyn was just there visiting them…

 _Jyn_. _Maybe she's back early_. His concerns about Lyra notwithstanding, he breathed an unconscious sigh of relief at the thought.

He heard Lyra's sleepy babbling and Jyn's soft voice as she padded down the hallway. "Shh, baby. Yeah, I know we're back home now but you can keep sleeping. …No, in your own bed, honey. We don't want to wake Papa, too."

 _Too late_. Cassian took another deep breath and tried stand up. Leaning heavily on the sink, he got most of the way there, but was soon so incredibly dizzy he had to sit back down on the edge of the tub. The 'fresher door was open, and Jyn paused when she saw the light on.

Her eyes widened comically and Cassian almost laughed. He could tell she wanted to say something from the way she pressed her lips together, mindful of the toddler dozing on her shoulder.

She carefully shifted her grip so she had Lyra in one arm, then held up a finger on her other hand. _One second_. She continued down the hall to Lyra's room.

 

She returned quickly without Lyra, eyes still wide as she reached for him, touching his shoulders, arms legs, as if to make sure everything was still attached.

"What in karking hell happened to you? Are you okay?" Her voice was an urgent whisper. Sound traveled in the apartment and Lyra was a light sleeper.

He nodded slowly. "I… I'm fine." He grimaced as his throat burned.

She put a hand on his forehead and frowned. "You feel warm. Are you sick?"

He nodded and swallowed. She was breathing close to his face, and she'd eaten something on the transport, probably greasy transport breakfast and caf to deal with the red-eye and a three-year-old. "Yeah, I–" His stomach flipped and he lurched forward, almost crawling on his hands and knees to cough into the toilet, although there was nothing left to come up.

Jyn stepped backwards out of his way, but caught his shoulders before he collapsed on the floor again. "Holy shavit, Cassian. How long as this been going on?"

He shrugged, then realized that wasn't helpful. "Felt… weird when I went to bed and then woke up…" He trailed off and hoped she'd get the idea.

She nodded and rubbed his shoulders again. They were kneeling facing each other on the floor of the 'fresher, knees almost touching. "Do you think you can stand?"

 _Honestly?_ He shook his head.

She tilted her head and gave him a _look_. "I'll help you. Come on." She stood and offered both her hands.

He let her pull him up and braced himself for the dizziness. She seemed to understand wrapped an arm around his waist, letting him lean heavily into her side as she led him to their bedroom. He crumpled onto the bed as soon as he could and began to slide under the covers.

"Wait," Jyn said from their closet. "Change into these first."

He paused and fumbled with the clothes she tossed over to him.

"Need help?" He could make out her shadow in the low light, standing over him. He shook his head and managed to slide on the new pair of pants, but accepted her help to sit up again and put on the clean shirt.

He thought he'd cry with relief when she finally pulled the covers over him. He wanted to thank her, and welcome her home, but soon felt the crush of exhaustion from barely sleeping all night and fell asleep before he could.

 

* * *

 

He half-woke up at some point to light streaming in from the hallway. Jyn was crouched in the open door, murmuring in a low voice. "No, baby, Papa can't play with you right now."

Lyra said something he couldn't make out.

"I know. I'm sorry, but he's not feeling well today. We can play together in a minute, why don't you take out your monorail set?

Lyra said something else and the door slid shut.

Jyn came over to sit next to him. She rubbed his back. "How're you doing?"

Cassian sighed. The nausea had backed off, but he still felt achy and tired. "Okay."

She felt his forehead. "Your fever's down. Think you'll be okay if I'm in the living room with Lyra?"

"Yeah."

"Good." She pointed to his nightstand. "Just say if you need anything and I'll be able to hear you."

He frowned. "You brought the baby monitor in here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me like that, it's practical."

 

Cassian didn't know how Lyra did it. It felt so _weird_ to sleep when he know someone in another room was listening. He rolled over. At least it wasn't two-way. Hearing Jyn playing with Lyra in the living room would not improve his mood.

He slept for most of the day, then mustered up the energy to shower and shuffle down the hall with a blanket over his shoulders. It just wasn't fair that Jyn and Lyra were finally back and he didn't get to see them. Lyra had moved on from her monorail set to her stuffed toys. She had a strange tendency to arrange them in a single-file line, making sure each was perfectly behind the other, then moving them slowly forward as if they were in some sort of parade.

To his mild surprise, Jyn wasn't taking part in the activities at all, and was instead curled on one end of the sofa, reading something on her datapad.

"You okay?" His voice was still recovering. He cleared his throat.

She didn't respond at first, then blinked and looked up. "Yeah. Fine."

He settled down in the easy chair. "You sure?"He was bracing himself for when she caught this. Perhaps he should've stayed in bed, he'd need more rest if he had to take care of her tomorrow…

She smiled. "Just tired."

He decided to trust her. "Okay."

She put her datapad aside. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"Up to some dinner? I can reheat something light."

"Sure."

 

Jyn fell asleep halfway through dinner, her head pillowed on her arms. After thoroughly washing his hands, Cassian wiped Lyra's face and picked her up before nudging Jyn awake.

"Why don't you go to bed?"

She rolled her shoulders. "I'm fine, Cass."

He sighed, too tired to start an argument. "If you sleep like that, your neck's going to be stiff."

"All right, all right." She stood up and stretched. "You got her?" She nodded at Lyra.

"Yeah."

"Okay." She yawned. "Next time, I'm making Han fly us back on the Falcon. I'm too old for overnight public transports."

He followed her down the hall. "Don't say you're old, Jyn. It makes me feel even older."

Lyra giggled and poked Cassian's neck. "You're old!"

He gave Jyn a look. "See what you've done? Our daughter thinks I'm decrepit."

She laughed and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. "Well at least she doesn't have any illusions about the vitality of her parents."

"You should be nicer to me. I've been ill." He paused at Lyra's bedroom.

She raised an eyebrow. "Asking for mercy already? You're going soft, Andor."

He smiled and kissed Lyra's head. "I wonder why."

 

Jyn was already asleep by the time he slid into bed next to her. She'd kicked off most of the blankets, which was odd. He worried she might be running a temperature, but when he checked she didn't feel that warm. She didn't so much as sigh when he laid a hand on her forehead, also weird, but he chalked it up to her exhaustion after traveling, then taking care of Lyra alone all day.

He threw the blankets loosely over her as he got comfortable. So she wouldn't be cold if she woke up.

 

* * *

 

When Cassian blinked slowly awake, he wasn't sure what had woken him. He felt like he'd been pulled out of a much deeper sleep than normal, and his brain was sluggish to emerge from its sleepy haze. He tried to figure out what had woken him up in the first place. Maybe Lyra had cried, or maybe Jyn–

He turned his head and his eyes snapped open. Jyn was no longer next to him, the duvet tossed hastily aside. He sat up and tried to force himself fully awake. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach that was confirmed when he heard coughing echoing from the 'fresher.

 _Mierda_. He threw himself out of bed and hurried down the hall. He should've known. He should've been more careful but he'd been so _relieved_ when she got home it was hard to stay away, maintain a distance that would've been appropriate.

He knelt by her and gripped her shoulders to support her as soon as he saw her. He rubbed her arms as she caught her breath. She looked sweaty and pale, and he was frantic with worry and guilt that he had caused this.

"I'm so, so sorry. This is awful, I know, and I should've been more careful–

"Cassian–"

"Do you need anything? Water? An ice pack? A heating pad?"

"Cassian, I–"

"Do you have a headache? Are you dizzy? Is your–"

"Cassian!" She grabbed his wrists.

He blinked and refocused on her. "What is it?" She was leaning towards him, and her lips were creeping up. Why was that? What was she thinking?

"Cassian, I'm not sick."

He stared dumbly. "You're not?"

"I'm pregnant."

 _Oh_. He felt his mouth drop open and felt a bit like the floor had just given way beneath him. He struggled to get his mind to work again. "H-how do you– I mean, uh, w-when did you find out?"

"This morning." She held up a test strip from the floor behind her. "Leia… I don't know if it's a Force thing or a woman thing or what, but the day we left she told me she had this _feeling_." She shook her head. "I didn't believe her, but…" Her smile grew larger and she waved the test strip again.

Cassian felt his own smile spread across his face and took a few deep breaths, almost dizzy at the emotional whiplash. "You're… oh my Gods." _Pregnant_. Another baby. A sister or brother for Lyra. They'd need to request another apartment. And dig up Lyra's crib from storage.

"Are you happy?"

Happy? _Happy_ didn't seem like enough. He choked on the word. "I– yes. More than– yes." His hands twitched around her shoulders.

It seemed to trigger something in her, remind him where they were, because she surged toward him and caught him in a crushing hug. Unprepared, he fell backward with the force of it so she was lying flat on top of him, their legs in the 'fresher and their heads in the hallway.

She buried her face in his neck and he gripped her to his chest.

"We have to tell Lyra," he said.

"I'll get her." Jyn kissed his neck and tapped her fingers on his collarbone. "If you go make her favorite for breakfast."

He pressed his hands to her back. "In a minute." He closed his eyes she he could savor this feeling. The floor was hard and unforgiving beneath him, and she was a soft-but-solid weight on top of him, but he still somehow felt lighter than air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading/commenting/leaving kudos!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it :) 
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/), where I'm cats-and-metersticks and do fic commentary, reblog star wars memes, and more!


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